1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a water pipe accessory, and more particularly, to a tool for starting and cleaning a water pipe, such as a hookah or shisha pipe.
2. Description of the Background Art
Hookah water pipes, also known as shisha water pipes because of the tobacco typically used, and restaurants providing hookahs are well known worldwide. With reference to FIG. 1, a hookah 1 is a water pipe having a tobacco reservoir/bowl 3 in fluid/pneumatic communication with a tobacco smoke feed tube 4 that depends into a smoke chamber 5, which is partially filled with water, and one or more hoses 2 releasably attached to the water pipe 1 in fluid/pneumatic communication with the smoke chamber 5 for drawing air/oxygen through the tobacco and tobacco smoke through the hoses. Starting the hookah 1 so it ignites and remains ignited can be very difficult and time consuming. The difficulty arises because shisha comprises flavored tobaccos that are flavored with moist additives, such as molasses, making it difficult to ignite the tobacco and properly start the hookah. Some of the difficulty further arises from residue build-up in the hoses, which also causes odors. Accordingly, restaurants providing hookahs typically ignite the tobacco for the patron. Unfortunately, they confront the same obstacles, which adversely affects customer service and hence the success of the restaurant. Conventional hookahs also present health problems associated with inhaling particulate matter/debris and restaurant employees placing their mouth on the hose to ignite it. If there existed a water pipe accessory that could start and ignite the hookah 1 as well as clean its hoses 2 it would eliminate the problems associated with starting and cleaning a hookahh and save servers valuable time while making the patrons visit to the hookahh restaurant more enjoyable. However, there are no known devices that can provide the dual functions of starting a hookahh or other water pipe and cleaning hoses. If such a device existed it would be well received.
Although various pipes and smoking accessories are shown in the prior art, they fail to disclose a device or system that adequately addresses or resolves the above-noted gaps in the prior art. The background art known fails to disclose a hookahh or water pipe accessory that can start the pipe and clean its hoses to facilitate an easier draw, increase sanitary conditions and reduce or eliminate odors. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 1,531,147, issued to Zahariadis, discloses a water pipe. U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,633, issued to Weber, discloses a battery-operated blower for keeping a non-water pipe lit. U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,690, issued to Guarnieri, discloses a water pipe having a flame igniter or electrical resistance element. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,230, issued to Pearlman, discloses an automatic non-water smoking pipe including a fan. U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,034, issued to Wonisch, discloses a hand-held apparatus for starting and fanning a fire, such as in a fire place, by providing a source of fuel and air. U.S. Pat. No. 4,193,411, issued to Faris, discloses a power-operated non-water pipe comprising a removable cup for holding tobacco, fan and air chamber for drawing air from the bowl with the fan. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,410, issued to Seroussi, discloses a nargile water pipe for smoking cured tobaccos. U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,017, issued to Levin, discloses a hand-held air blower with a rechargeable power supply that may be used for supplying air to a fire in a grill or fireplace. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,173, issued to Thomson, discloses a portable air blower with an elongated hollow extension sleeve to guide forced air directly onto fire. U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,756, issued to Mielordt, discloses a device for smoking tobacco or other products. U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,056, issued to Billard, discloses a composition useful for removal of organic deposits from a ceramic, glass, plastic or metal substrate.
Based on the foregoing, the prior art discloses various pipes but fails to disclose an accessory that can be used any hookah or other comparable water pipe to start the tobacco in the water pipe and clean the pipe's hoses. Accordingly, there exists a need for such an accessory. The instant invention addresses this unfulfilled need in the prior art by providing a water pipe starter and cleaning accessory as contemplated by the instant invention disclosed herein.